FanHouse DonBaylor

SAN FRANCISCO -- You don't have to hang around the Rockies for very long to get the feeling that Dexter Fowler is just about to blow up. In a good way.

By all accounts, Fowler just needs to meet his offensive potential and get the right publicity, and he could one day be one of those players who attain "face of the game" status.

Before you dismiss that as hyperbole, listen to Todd Helton.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Troy Tulowitzki knows that this is the rubber year. After a brilliant rookie season and a forgettable, injury-marred second year, this is the year for him to show which of the others was legit.

"I believe in myself and my abilities," the Rockies shortstop said, "but there are some doubters out there. People want to see if (2007) was a fluke."

So far, the stats aren't doing much to make his case in 2009. Tulowitzki is hitting just .203, and earlier this week he was in such a tailspin that he was benched for a game.

To listen to Tulowitzki and those around him, though, the numbers don't tell the whole story. It is a story about a kid with one year in the majors who gets anointed by the public as a star, and gets a multi-million contract to match.

With Tom Glavine's 300th victory fast approaching (and he goes for win number 298 tonight against Cincinnati), here's a trip down memory lane to remember another Met named Tom who if not for Frank Cashen, might have also won his 300th game as a New York Met.

Mets fans flocked Yankee Stadium to see Tom Seaver win his 300th career game with the Chicago White Sox, and it almost sounded like Shea after he got Don Baylor to fly out to left field for the final out on August 4th, 1985. He would have done it as a Met had Cashen had not left Seaver off the protected list after the 1983 season, mistakenly thinking that nobody would claim a 39 year old pitcher who went 9-14. Seaver went on to win 31 games in his first two seasons with Chicago, before battling injuries and a trade in his final season, 1986. (Odd note: Seaver leaving the Mets rotation opened up a rotation spot for none other than the 1984 rookie of the year, Dwight Gooden.)

As you watch this video, look for cameos by a rookie White Sox shortstop named Ozzie Guillen, and a young coach who would make his managerial debut a year later, named Jim Leyland.

Sheesh, I haven't heard that name since ... the last time. And it's been quite some time too. Despite being diagnosed with bone marrow cancer in 2003, Baylor says he's ready and eager to return to managing. And according to The Denver Post, Don Baylor could be a candidate for the Orioles job:

He might get [a chance] after emerging this week as a strong candidate for the Baltimore Orioles' managerial vacancy. Andy MacPhail, who oversaw Baylor's hiring in Chicago, is leading the search as Baltimore's new president. Joe Girardi turned down the job, leaving Dusty Baker, Davey Johnson, Rick Dempsey and Baylor as possible successors to Sam Perlozzo.

Baylor may not have made PostmanE's list of candidates which included Baker, Frank Robinson, Johnson, and interim manager Dave Trembley, but he sure is trying to establish himself as a candidate now. Baker has a cushy gig at ESPN, so he might not be as quick to leave as some people would think. Who knows about Johnson and Dempsey. From the sounds of things, they might not find a more eager candidate than Baylor. And really, how hard is it to manage the O's to a fourth or fifth place finish every year?

Previously at FanHouse:
So, What Do the Orioles Do Now?
Is Tom Kelly a Potential Orioles Manager?